Authorities in Laikipia County are in the process of repatriating tens of underage children beggars found in most urban centers in the region.
Laikipia County Commissioner, Joseph Kanyiri, said that the underage beggars are believed to come from a neighbouring country and were mostly found in Nyahururu and Nanyuki towns.
“They have become an eyesore and even the business community is lamenting of their presence, since they approach buyers outside shops and supermarkets with begging bowls and most of them are wheeled on wheelchairs, since they are disabled, by adults who act as guardians,” Kanyiri said.
The County Commissioner added that authorities had established that the children beggars are normally housed in guest houses within the towns and are picked by their agents in the morning and dropped in strategic locations in the towns they operate from with begging bowls, while others are wheeled in the streets to solicit for money from passersby’s.
“You can easily tell that the child beggars are not from around by the fluency in Swahili language they use, while communicating, Kenyans from this side of the mountain are not known to be that fluent in Swahili,” the county Commissioner added.
He further said that authorities had already established that the child beggars were part of an East African Community (EAC) syndicate of criminals who traffic children to act as beggars in towns within the region in order to benefit from the trade.
Kanyiri noted that most of them are trafficked into the country with the promise that they will make good money out of begging using panya routes, where immigration can’t spot them, but sadly the money they get ends up in the pockets of the traffickers.
“We are also urging lodge and guest houses operators not to accommodate them in their premises as they will be also culpable in facilitating the child trafficking syndicate, he added.
County Director of Children Services, Ezekiel Omwansa, said that three similar repatriations have been carried out in the past of similar child beggars from the county after local courts gave orders for the children to be taken back to their country of origin.
“We normally round them up with the help of the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) and take them to court as children in need of care and protection and apply for an order to repatriate them back to their countries,” Omwansa said.
He added that the OCS is tasked to facilitate the transportation of the minors to border points, where they are supposed to be received by authorities in the countries of their origin.
Omwansa revealed that previous repatriation had seen his department transport the minors to Namanga and Isebania immigration border stations where they were received by officials from neighbouring countries.
“The case of foreign children being trafficked and used as beggars in Kenya has been a national challenge, but concerned government authorities are working with neighbouring countries with a view to permanently ending the menace,” Omwansa said.
By Martin Munyi
